I have always hiked mine in and hiked mine out. Anytime you give people the chance to take advantage of a good thing , many will abuse it. And I am sympathetic to the poor grunts {rangers} who have to pack out someone elses junk. You are not protecting the bears. Bears do what bears do. They naturally do goofy stuff. I live with them ,so I know how destructive they can be ,even when all precautions are taken. There is too many dadgum bears around anyway. I do my part. Nothing like a good ,lean spring bear for jerky, roast ,or stew. Don't want to put no fat bear in my pot. jls